Simon Rumley (director of Red, White & Blue, Fashionista & Crowhurst) has begun a six week shoot on the brutal gangster thriller Once Upon a Time in London – for Gateway Films – which dramatises the violent reign of two of London’s most notorious gangsters, Billy Hill (Leo Gregory) and Jack ‘Spot’ Comer (Terry Stone), charting the legendary rise and fall of a nationwide criminal empire that lasted until the mid-fifties and which paved the way for the notorious Kray Twins and The Richardsons.

Director and co-writer Simon Rumley commented:

Having spent the last decade or so writing and directing thematically disparate but collectively extreme dramas, it makes absolute sense for me to progress to the gangster genre where love, lust, greed, paranoia, betrayal and violence are every day occurrences. The story of Jack Spot Comer, Billy Hill and their respective battles to become King of London’s Underworld has remained one of Britain’s most dynamic, thrilling and untold stories, but we’ll be exploring it in depth, with psychological dexterity and aiming to make it a unique viewing experience and a great British film.

Producers Terry Stone and Richard Turner added:

We’re thrilled to be working with Simon Rumley, one of the UK’s most exciting directors. This is a fantastic and long overdue story about the founders of organised crime in Britain. We have an incredible cast and the film promises to be a must see for all true crime fans.